Apparatus for filling gas balloons and airships with light gases



APPARATUS FOR FILLING GAS BALLOONS AND AIRSHIIS WITH LIGHT GASES Nov.21, 1944- J. A. BERTSCH Filed June 12, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l TA NK c4TAL YST CHAMBER &

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APPARATUS FOR FILLING GAS BALLOONS AND AIRSHIPS WITH LIGHT GASES Nov.21, 1944.

Filed June 12, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ELEMENT VAPOR INLET LIGHT CA5 CATAL Y6 T m A 3 a M VAPOR nusr CATAL YST IN VEN TOR. J'anAlv/v 14044185012901, 05054850 S. R n u c 5 A 6 0 n M Q. 0 .m D N. A K M 5 m m C m mE H T Patented Nov. 21, 1944 APPARATUS FOR FILLING GAS BALLOONS ANDAIRSHIPS WI'IHLIGHT GASES Johann Adam Bertsch, deceased, late of St.Louis, Mo.,by the Manufacturers Bank and Trust Company of St. Louis,executor, St. Louis, Mo.

Application June 12, 1941, Serial No. 397,727

4 Claims. (Cl. 244-98) This invention relates to a method and appa'ratus for producing lifting mediums and for filling balloons andairships with same, and also to novel 7 mixtures; of gases forlift-mediums for lighterthfan-air aircraft. I 7 -;The ordinarypracticeof filling balloons and dirigibles entails the use of acentral-station ground plant in a fixed location. Such plants consist ofvarious pieces of expensive apparatus of considerable size andcomplexity. .;Moreover, they are subject to criticism, militarily,by'reason of their immobility and their susceptibilityto attacks fromthe air. None of the gases heretofore used for the purpose, for example,helium, hydrogen, or producer gas, or the-modern so- ;called blue gas,have been-produced in the quantities required for filling large balloonsex-, cept in plants of the kind just noted.

'-'F01' permitting the filling of-balloons at places other than suchgas-producing plants, it has been proposed to utilize compressed gas,particularly hydrogen, shipped in containers such as are commonlyemployed for the storing and transportation of gases for welding. Agreat number of these cylinders have to be employedmaking the cost ofthe method of procedure often prohibithe formation of an explosivemixture. The presentinvention provides a means for cheaply and quicklyproducing the lift-medium in situ on the airship itself, wherebyinstead'of mentioned above, each airship can carryits' own generatingplant and produce a' standard gas and be filled easily and quickly insitu wherever it may be.

Itv was discovered that the gaseous. products formed by decomposingcertain volatile oxygenfcontaining liquid organic compounds,,such' as,methyl alcohol, by the action of heat, or by heat Lin the .presence.of: a catalyst, .form eminently I I Extreme care should; be exercised inusing commercial hydrogen, in welding, for example, to prevent suitablelift-mediums for lighter-than-air aircraft.

Accordingly, the present invention contem plates providing the airshipwith a'supp ly. of one or more volatile liquids; drawing out the desiredquantity of the liquid when necessary; vaporizing it; dissociating ordecomposing the vapor, in situ in the aircraft, into a gas lighter thanair 'or a mixture of gases lighter-than-air; and

conducting and controlling the flow ofthe products into the gas cells.

In order that the inventive concept may be better understood, severalembodiments of the invention will now be described in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, but the inventive idea itself is limited inits embodiments only by the scope of the sub-joined claims. In thesedrawings, a I v I Fig. 1 is'a diagrammatic representation ofa gasgenerating apparatus combined with one of the propulsion engines of adirigible;

Fig. 2 shows a modified form thereof;

Fig. 3 shows another modification;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of an apparatus suitable for useas a fixed or portable ground plant for carrying out the invention; and

Figs. 5-8 are diagrammatic illustrations of various forms of catalyticreaction chambers.

The substance known as methyl alcohol is plentiful and cheap, besidesbeing a relatively depending .on the unsatisfactory ground-plants lightliquid and not of an explosive nature. *It will, therefore, be taken asthe preferred one of the various volatile organiccompounds referred tohereinabove. It can be decomposed at 200 450 C. either by the action ofheat alone, or by the action of heat inthe presence of a catalyst, intoagaseous mixture consisting of two volumes of hydrogen and one volume ofcarbon monoxide, in accordance with the following reaction formula:

' CH3OH- 2Hz+CO It was found that the gaseous mixture resulting fromthisreaction iswell-suited for use as the lift-medium of airships. This factwill be- Qcomeplainer upon considering that the weight alcohol vapor.

vaporizer 2, of .any' suitable type, wherein the.

liquid methyl alcohol is converted into methyl From the vaporizer, themethyl alcohol vapor is conducted by suitable piping to a suitablecatalytic chamber 4, which is provided with jacket 3. In cases where theexhaust gases of the engine are used for heating the catalyst chamber, aparticular advantage can be obtained by a subsequent total combustion ofsuch engine gases by means of catalysts. The engine exhaust gases arerich in carbon-monoxide and the hot engine gases eventually, afteraddition of air, can be conducted over a catalyst such as Hopcalite or amore rigid catalyst, such as a Ceroxide mixture or fused Metaloxide,which catalysts cause total combustion, whereby additional heat may beproduced.

By modifying the sensitiveness of the catalyst, it is possible tocompensate within certain limits for, any deficiencies in the heat ofthe exhaust gases, as for varying types of engines, so as to alwayshave. the optimum reaction temperature in the catalytic chamber 4. It ispreferable to so control the flow and proportions of the methyl alcoholvapors entering into the catalytic chamber that no undecomposed methylalcohol will leave the farther end of the chamber, and to this end, asuitable valve may be provided in the pipe leading into the chamber.

The mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, as it is produced andleaves the chamber 4, is suitably protected from contact with. sparks oropen flames, and'is led thence either directly to the cells of thegas-bag, by means of the usual piping and valves 6-; or, ifdesired,first over activated charcoal, or silica gel or through water, to removewater vapor and any trace of methyl alcohol vapor not dissociated in thechamber. This washing is, however, not obligatory but is advisable whenthe rate of flow and dissociation in the chamber cannot be properlycontrolled.

In either case, however, it is not necessary to employpressure-increasing means; such as a gaspump or blower fan, as thedissociation of the substances of the present invention is accompaniedin every instance by an increase of pressure, which is always sufficientto completely inflate the gas bag without the aid of auxiliarypressure-increasing means.

The separate vaporizer may, if desired, be dispensed with by runningthe-methyl alcohol in place of water into the cooling system of theengine, whereby the liquid will not only be vaporized and the resultingvvapors advantageously preheated, but the necessity for carrying aseparate supply of engine-cooling medium, such as water. will beobviated. As shown in Figure 3, this may be accomplished by enclosing aconduit 1 within the water-jacket block of the engine, and coiling itaround each cylinder, whereby the methyl alcohol is vaporized and thevapors preheated before entering the catalytic reaction chamber 4.

Various instrumentalities can be employed to heatthe catalytic chamber.As already mentioned. in connection with Fig. 1, the exhaust gases fromthe engine can be used directly for heating the catalytic chamber orchambers. The usual temperature of the exhaust gases is between 330heatingmedium (Fig. 8).

degrees C. and 380 degrees C. When used on the ground, the catalyticchamber may be surrounded by a suitable fluid bath. A very goodtemperature regulation is then secured by using a liquid of suitableboiling point, which point may be adjusted by regulating its vaporpressure, or by circulating the liquid by a force feed system connectedto the engine. The liquid bath may also be replaced by a solid block ofmetal in which the catalytic chambers are embedded, such block servingas a heat reservoir. Heat may also be supplied electrically as indicatedat 8 in Fig. 2, and in Fig. 6. If the catalytic material is anelectricalv conductor in itself, or is coated onan electrical conductorsuch as metals and alloys, the catalytic elements may be heated directlyby electric current. The vapors may also be dissociated by the dischargethrough the chamber of silent electric sparks. Heat may also be producedby combustion, particularly surface combustion of a liquid or gaseousfuel. Thus methyl alcohol or gasoline vapors mixed with air may bepassed over a suitable catalytic material, such as platinum asbestos orCeriumoxide or Hopcalite catalyst whereby a flameless combustion isproduced which furnishes a very uniform heat. The air as used for suchcombustions may be passed before entering the fire box over exhaustscrubbing material such as silica gel or charcoal, which is soaked withundecomposed liquid obtained from scrubbing the gases to be conductedinto the balloon.

Any suitable catalyst may be employed in carrying out the invention, andthe invention is not limited to any particular catalyst or type ofcatalyst. When using methyl alcohol, it is preferred to use a type ofcatalyst which, in a reaction converse to that of the present invention,will produce methyl alcohol or the like from the oxides of carbon in thepresence of gases containing hydrogen. For example, the catalyst may bean oxide, or a mixture of oxides, suboxides, silicates. borates,fluosilicates, halides, alloys, or'metallides, of zinc, copper, silver,chromium, vanadium, uranium, manganese, gold or lead, or all of them, orany combination of them. The invention is not limited to any of thesematerials however.

The catalytic chamber can be constructed in any well known manner whichsecures a uniform distribution of heat through the catalytic mass. Thecatalyst may be carried as a single layer (Fig. 5) or a plurality (Fig.6) of flat layers and the supporting plates or grids may be heated fromoutside by electricity (Fig. 6) or pipe coils wherein a gaseous orliquid heating medium circulates (Fig. 5). Heating elements may also beembedded in the catalyst layer (Figs. 545). The catalyst tubes may beimmersed in a liquid or gaseous heating bath. These types of catalyticchambers are merely representative and it is to be understood that anyother suitable arrangement of the catalytic chamber may be used withoutdeviating from the present concept. How ever, the chamber iscontemplated as always be.- ing made of copper or stainless steel, oralloys or other substances which do not form Ironcarbonyl withcarbonmonoxide, since such is harmful to the catalyst. Vice versa, thecatalyst may be located outside the tubes and the inside of the tubesmay be traversed by heating gas or liquid. The tubes containing thecatalyst may be closed on one end and have a center tube extendingpartly through the closed-end tube for conducting inlet or outlet gasesand such tubes may be embedded in the Vice versa, the heatin fluid orgas may be circulated in these double tubes and the catalyst may belocated outside the tubes. Flatlayers of catalyst may be combined insuccession with layersarranged between, or inside of open or closed-endtubes.

I The catalytic apparatus illustrated in the various figures may becombined in series or in paral- If desired, the gas producing plant ofthe present'invention can be erected on the ground at an airport, asshown in Fig. 4, the size of the various components being increasedsufficiently to supply the airships berthed there, instead of be- .ingdesigned in combinations with the motive lel, and one type may becombined in series or v in I parallel with any other type. Heat-exchangeelements for preheating .the incoming gases and.

be impregnated with catalyst, or the carrier may itself be eithercatalytic or inert. When the carrier is to be impregnated with. thecatalyst, the-carrier preferably consists either of silicic acid or asilicate such as'zeolite. Itv may also consist of a base-exchangingbodyhaving a highly ramified, cellular innersu'rface, in which thesilica may be substituted by other groups,

plant of a single airship. Various other modifications of like naturemay bemade without going beyond'the scope of the present invention.

j Itis claimed:

1. In a lighter-than-air flying machine having a buoyant gas cell, apropeller, and an internal combustion engine for driving the same, meansfor chemically generating buoyant permanent gas for filling saidgascell, consisting of the combination of a reservoir of liquid methanol,means for vaporizing the methanol stored therein, said means beingoperated by the heat of said engine, catalytic means for I convertingthe vaporized methanol into a mixture of permanent gases, and

means for introducing said permanent gases into said gas cell.

such :as stannates. plumbates, aluminates, etc.

Instead of employing a separate carrier, the walls themselves ofthe'chamber may be coated with the catalyst. In this case, the catalystis reduced before'use at about 250 300 C. by hydrogen-containing gasesor methyl alcohol vapors.

7 By means of the present invention, therefore, both the lifting mediumfor the gas-cells and fuel for the engines may be generated in situ inthe airship. The use of those volatile liquids from which are producedonly hydrogen and a heavier gas also gives the advantage that theheavier gas generated therefrom serves to automatically compensate forthe loss in weight during flight caused by the consumption of fuel.Further, if the gasbags are originally filled with pure hydrogen, and

it is desired to reduce altitude during flight, replenishing the bagswith the carbonmonoxide-hy drogen mixture of the presentinvention servesautomatically to restore the craft to the desired weight. If it isdesired to lower the lifting power still more, thecarbonmonoxide-hydrogen mixtrim, or a part thereof, may be conductedthrough an additional catalytic chamber'producing 'meth ane from thegases, or a part thereof, so that a gas mixture of a still furtherdecreased lifting power is produced. Also-particularly when theinvention is embodied in a central-station ground plantone or morecomponents of the mixture,

' such as suitably small. amounts of carbon-diox- -ide or ofcarbonmonoxide, may be removed by scrubbing with any suitable absorbent,to vary the y gen content of the dissociationproduct and, j

therefore, the lift power of the craft, to any desired degree.

By the, use of one of the sources ofv hydrogen contemplated by thepresent invention from which also other useful by-products can beproduced, the present invention makes it possible to 2. In alighter-than-air flying machine having a buoyant gas bag, a propeller,and an internal combustion engine for driving the same, means forgenerating buoyant gas for filling said gas cell, comprising thecombination of a supply of liquid methanol, means for vaporizingsaidmeth- .anol, catalytic means for converting the vaporized methonalinto a mixture of hydrogen and carbon.

monoxide, and means operated by said engine for heating said vaporizingmeans and said catalytic means.

3. In a lighter-than-air flying machine having a buoyant gas cell, apropeller, and an internal combustion engine for driving the same, meansfor generating buoyant. gas for filling said gas cell, comprising thecombinationof a reservoir of liquid methanol, means for vaporizing themethanol stored therein, a catalytic combustion chamber for convertingth vaporized methanol W into a mixture of gases lighter-than-air, aplucombustion engine for driving the same,-means for generating buoyantgas for filling said gas rality of electrically conducting catalysts insaid catalytic combustion chamber, an electric generator motivated bysaid engine, and electrical conductors between said generator andsaidelectrically conductingcatalysts for passing an electric current throughsaid electrically conducting I catalysts to cause decomposition of saidvapor-' ized methanol.

4. In a lighter-than-airfiying machine having a buoyant gas cell, apropeller, and an internal cell, consisting of the combination of areservoir of liquid methanol, means operated by the heat of said enginefor vaporizing said meth- F anol, catalytic means for converting thevapornot only generate a standard, high quality lift- 1 gas in site onshort notice wherever the airship may be and inany quantities, but alsoobviates the necessity of depending upon the unreliable local productsalongits course,='as when on an extended voyage, and thus widensconsiderably the held of usefulness of lighter-than-air craft.

ized methanol into a mixture of hydrogen and carbon'monoxide, and meansfor heating said catalytic means including a catalytic combustionchamber adapted to burn the exhaust gases from said engine and heatexchange means between said catalytic combustion chamber and saidcatalytic means.

THE MANUFACTURERS BANK 8:

TRUST COMPANY OF ST. LOUIS, Executor of the Estate of Johann AdamBertsch,

Deceased, By HUGH B. ROSE,

Trust Oflicer.

